The present invention relates to a vehicle comprising a chassis and a tilt cab which is mounted to said chassis and is tiltable with respect to the chassis. The vehicle furthermore comprises a tilting system for tilting said tilt cab relative to the vehicle chassis back and forth between a lowered position in which the vehicle can be driven and a raised position in which, for example, maintenance work can be carried out on the engine which lies beneath the cab. The tilting system comprises a reservoir for hydraulic fluid, a pump and at least one double-acting hydraulic tilt cylinder. The tilt cylinder has a push chamber and a pull chamber and a movable piston and piston rod assembly. The piston separates the push chamber and the pull chamber. The hydraulic cylinder is connected to the chassis and to the cab, such that when hydraulic fluid is supplied to the push chamber the cab moves to the raised position and when hydraulic fluid is supplied to the pull chamber the cab moves to the lowered position. The tilting system also comprises a control valve, which in a first position connects the pump to the push chamber of the cylinder and connects the reservoir to the pull chamber, and in a second position connects the pump to the pull chamber of the cylinder and the reservoir to the push chamber.
Such a vehicle is known.
When the known vehicle, during an accident, has a frontal collision with another vehicle or other object, the front of the cab is pushed in a rearward direction with respect to the chassis. The tilt cylinder however, which in the lowered position of the cab is pressurised in the pull chamber, withholds the cab from moving rearwardly with respect to the chassis, at least at the location where the cylinder is mounted to the cab. As a result the cab is crushed. In the past several heavy injuries of the driver have occurred because of the cab crushing during a frontal collision.
The present invention has for an object to provide a safer vehicle which causes less heavy injuries to the driver during frontal collisions.